Title: My Friends
Author: Fredrik Backman
Translation by: Neil Smith
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 436
Publication Date: 6 May 2025
StoryGraph* Moods: emotional, hopeful, finny
How I Stumbled Upon This Book: tasked it for book club
Other Books by this author: A Man Called Ove, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, Anxious People, Beartown, Britt-Marie Was Here, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, The Deal of a Lifetime, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, Us Against You, Winners
*StoryGraph also offers content warnings (highly recommend checking those out first).
Description: It’s all tied to a painting. When most people view it, they see the sea. Louisa, however, sees the three tiny figures on the end of the long pier. What started as a life goal of simply seeing the painting in person takes her on a journey to discover what ever became of those kids.
Why I recommend this book: I knew nothing of this book aside from a lot of people were talking about it (and even that I learned second hand). I was tasked this for one of my book clubs – and I DEVOURED it. I’m a fan of character-driven stories. Check. Braided stories. Check. Reveals that are surprising but also earned. Check.
I know I know – a story all spurred by a painting of the sea? I promise – it’s tender and joyful, filled with emotional moments but also laughter. The deeper into the stories of those tiny figures, and Louisa herself, the more the writing propels you forward.
But if for nothing else, read it for the writing. It’s a masterclass in voice, as well as building characters.
As I noted above, I would recommend checking out the content warnings before you begin. There are plot points that are not easy. They do make the high points all that much higher, though.
I don’t read reviews of books before I start because I don’t want them to color my reading. I did take a peek after, though, and it’s interesting to see how polarizing this book was for Backman’s readers. This is my first Backman, so I don’t have the others to compare them to – I might feel differently if I did. (I did see the Hanks film A Man Called Otto, but I didn’t know it was based on a Backman book until after I read this.) Also, my book club was pretty well split on it – so take the above with a grain of salt. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“You’re an artist if you create something! You’re an artist if you don’t see the world the way it is, if you hate white walls! No one else decides what art is, no one can stop you loving whatever you like, the cynics and critics can have control of all the crap on the planet…but then can’t decide how hard your heart beats! Become whatever you want, but don’t become one of them. Art is a fragile enough light as it is. It can be blown out by a single sigh. Art needs friends, with our bodies against the wind and our hands cupped around the flame, until it’s strong enough to burn brightly with its own power. Until it’s an inferno. Unstoppable.”
~ Fredrik Backman translated by Neil Smith, My Friends
Ami Maxine 